While you may recognize Ty Segall’s familiar brand of scuzzy guitar embedded in Lindsey Mackin’s latest single from her forthcoming Segall-produced LP Waking Up, “Heavy Sleeper” is all Annabelle Chairlegs. The track opens with a brief passage of minimal, somnambulistic guitar balladry before the full-band instrumental kicks in led by Mackin’s howling vocals. Things build from there, with the track using that soft intro as something to create a sense of jarring contrast with; it feels like being shaken awake from a deep sleep to find yourself in the middle of the action.
“I love that this song feels like it could be an old-school cartoon,” Mackin shares. “We drift off into space and a dreamy world within the clouds, above it all. Next thing you know you’re dropped down into the passenger seat of a fast car in a loud and chaotic reality, maybe even clouding your down-to-earth reality with something that gives you a whole new and other place and feeling. And that takes you somewhere else—and so on.”
Mackin is quick to give Segall credit for embellishing her vision for the song, which does match the artist’s catalog of contrasts. “Ty has an amazing ability to be sweet and soft and then totally evil and heavy,” she continues. “There’s this beautiful, dark, pure evil that’s still maintaining sweetness and vulnerability, almost above or below earth—dreamy. There’s darkness and light in everything. That was a big reason I thought he was the perfect collaborator and producer for this album.”
Naturally, the music video for “Heavy Sleeper” begins in bed and only gets more surreal from there. “[Director] Colin Shields is such an amazing artist, and I was so blown away and excited about his idea for this music video,” Mackin says. “He completely tapped into the layers of dreams and brought it to life on the screen.”
Check it out below, and pre-order Waking Up ahead of its January 30 release via TODO Records here.
